Series set 2009-10 seasons

Thursday

23Soon enough summer will draw to a close and usher in a change of seasons of both weather and music.

Five music presenting organizations have organized their 2009-10 seasons of concerts which starting this autumn will offer patrons a variety of live musical performances.

Here is what is what music fans can look forward to hearing in 2009-10:

Topeka Community Concert Association

The city's oldest -- and one of its most affordable -- music series will present in its 79th season six concerts by international artists performing in White Concert Hall.

Topeka Community Concert Association subscribers can hear and watch the Hunt Family sing, play fiddles and other instruments and do Irish step dance on Oct. 9. Project, a classically trained chamber ensemble, will fuse classical with world music, jazz and even hip-hop on Nov. 18.

The Canadian Tenors will sing in a variety of languages songs of various genres Feb. 5. On March 17, the Cavatina Duo will blend flute and guitar in award-winning fashion.

The San Diego-based Presidio Brass quintet will play April 13 before the season closes May 22 with Chapter 6, a six-man a cappella troupe.

Season ticket prices remain unchanged: $50 for regular season, $44 for seniors 65 and older, $15 for students ages 5 to 21, $100 for a family of two adults and all the children in the household or $55 for a family led by one adult.

Call 357-8702 or go to www.topekacca.org to buy season tickets. The series doesn't offer individual concert tickets.

Topeka Symphony Orchestra

A world premiere will cap John Strickler's 21 seasons of conducting the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, which has been making music for northeast Kansas since 1946.

The global debut May 1 of "Parables," a work for orchestra, chorus and vocal soloists, which Robert Aldridge was commissioned by Douglas and Andrew Reeves in memory of their parents, Jean and Julie Reeves, will be the last of four Masterworks concerts.

Those concerts also will include "Mozart & More" on Sept. 26; "The French Connection," with organist Stephen Jon Hamilton, on Oct. 24; and violinist and TSO concertmaster Larisa Elisha soloing on a "German Masters" program on Feb. 20.

The symphony also will perform three family-oriented Discovery concerts: "Deck the Halls," a holiday program with Topeka-born singer Kristen Watson, on Dec. 9; "Action Heroes Then & Now," with music from "William Tell" Overture to the theme from "Superman," on Jan. 16; and "No Strings Attached," a March 27 program featuring music for the brass, woodwinds and other non-string sections of the orchestra.

Full-season tickets are $200 for adults, $193 for seniors and $103 for full-time students, but the symphony also offers season packages for as few as three concerts, a flex pass for four admissions and single concert tickets, which go on sale Sept. 1.

Call 232-2032 or go to www.topekasymphony.com for more information.

Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. Concert Series

For $100 for adults or $45 for students, a season ticket to the 41st annual Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. Concert Series gives buyers 10 Sunday afternoons of jazz by local, regional, national and international stars.

The 2010 portion of the season includes Jan. 3, Topeka-born singer Ron Gutierrez & Friends; Feb. 14, saxophonist Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen with the Tommy Ruskin Trio; March 28, the Mike Moreno Quartet; April 11, singer Banu Gibson presenting "Jeepers Creepers -- The Life and Songs of Johnny Mercer"; and the season finale on May 9, the Tierney Sutton Band.

Go to www.topekajazz.com for more information or contact Marcene Grimes by calling her at 379-5169 or e-mailing her at mgrimes14@cox.net.

Topeka Festival Singers

Since 1984, the Topeka Festival Singers have gathered some of the best voices in Topeka into a mixed chorus to perform both the best-known gems and hidden treasures of choral music.

Under the direction of Kevin Kellim, the group's artistic director since 1987, the Singers will present four programs in 2009-10: "Choral Cycles," an evening of song cycles, on Oct. 12; "Here We Come a Caroling," the Singers' annual holiday show, on Dec. 14; "Silly & Sweet," a repertoire of lighter works, on March 1; and "Give My Regards," the annual show tune show that lets individual Singers shine, on May 17.

Season tickets are $50 for adults, $42 for seniors and $20 for students and can be purchased at www.topekafestivalsingers.com, where individual concert tickets also are sold. Tickets also can be purchased by calling 267-3500.

Great Spaces Music & Arts Series

Long recognized as a outstanding venue for music, Grace Episcopal Cathedral once again has organized its Great Spaces Music & Arts Series.

Admission is either free or by freewill offering to most concerts unless a price in indicated for these 2009-10 offerings: New York-based organist Nigel Potts on Sept. 4; New York Polyphony vocal ensemble on Sept. 21, $10 for adults or $5 for students; Silents in the Cathedral, the annual showing of a spooky movie accompanied life by organist Marvin Faulwell, on Oct. 30; Russian-trained pianist Alexander Ruvenstein on Nov. 15, $10 for adults or $5 for students; and the Sunflower Harmony Chorus celebrating the holidays Dec. 12 with music sung in four-part barbershop harmony, $12 for adults or $10 for students and seniors.

The new year begins with University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music pianist Jane Solose on Jan. 14; the University of Kansas-based Spencer Consort on Feb. 12; widely acclaimed Lawrence Children's Choir on March 7, $10 for adults or $5 for students; and the Heartland Men's Chorus, based in Kansas City, Mo., on May 7.

The season concludes with a June 25 concert by the Raleigh Ringers of North Carolina on June 25, admission to which is $15, and the Kansas Choral Directors Association Convention Concert on July 9.

No season tickets will be sold. For more information, call the cathedral office at 234-3457 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays or go to www.gracecathedraltopeka.org.

Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bill.blankenship@cjonline.com.

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